Broken Arrows
by Starlord
Summary: Speedy Roy Harper enlists the help of Ollie and Dinah in the search for a young missing girl. What they find opens old wounds for both men.


This is a story that I wrote for another website called is a mature readers only and part of a series on this site. DC2 is a group of writers who have worked hard to make a continuity tight world from DC comics. The New Outsiders, in this world, are Green Arrow, Black Canary, Huntress, Batgirl, Vigilante, and Zatanna. They are based in Las Vegas. This is also a very personal story since the character of Annie is based off a young woman I met while working at a homeless shelter several years back.

The New Outsiders

Issue #6

By Brian Burchette

Broken Arrows

Prologue

Her name is Annie and she is fourteen years old. She sits naked in a hotel room that smells of sweat and rotten food. At the moment the lighting is scarce and dirty in appearance as it illuminates from one small, filthy table lamp. The bed she sits on is a mess with its stained sheets, rumpled blankets, and pungent odor of the dried seed of the fifteen-year-old boy that sits cross-legged and naked next to her. He has a smile on his face and a look of contentment that tells her that he is flying. A state that she wishes she could be in, but they won't allow it yet…not until she does for them what they demand of her.

Annie is a runaway and a heroin addict. She has been on the streets since she was twelve and an orphan since she was eight. She was moved from one foster home to the next until she made it to the door of the Piper family. Every home she had been in was bad, but the Pipers were the worst. Donald Piper, her foster dad, appeared normal at the onset, but within a month showed his true colors. A blue collar factory worker, he spent most of his time working double shifts and staying as far away from the house as possible. When he was home he was usually drunk and quiet, spending most of his time in front of the television watching old movies or national news.. He hardly acknowledged her presence and only did so when he asked her to fetch him another beer.

In retrospect, she really hadn't minded him at all, especially compared to her foster mother, Mary Piper. An unattractive woman who spent her days doting on Annie and making sure the house was clean and that dinner was on the table at exactly five thirty every night. Then after supper she would begin her descent into her own personal hell, a bottle of Absolut in one hand and a pack of Kools in the other. Annie would crawl into bed around ten and within the hour she would hear the door open. Mary Piper would stumble into the room and sit next to her, telling her what a good girl she was and how much she loved her. The routine was always the same; Mary's hands would start stroking her long blonde hair and gently make her way down her back and then around to her stomach.. Annie's body would tense as her foster mother's rough and dry hands would begin to caress her barely blossoming chest. She would whisper in her ear what a beautiful young woman she would make someday as her hands trailed down to Annie's private area. Annie always bit her lip and fought away the tears as she waited for the inevitable invasion to her body that always came, knowing that someday soon she was going to have to leave. Maybe go to New York and find her older sister that she had been separated from when they were both so young.

A short, skinny man of Asian descent brings her back to the present as he is ordering the other men in the room to turn on the lights that are surrounding the bed. Three movie cameras also surround her and the naked boy next to her.

"Alright, folks," the man says as he claps his hands to get their attention. "You know what we want from you, so give it everything you've got and I'll give you everything that you want," and he shows Annie the needle and a small plastic bag full of the wonderful escape that she has come to live for.

She nods her head to him and, as the young boy begins to climb on top of her, she catches a news flash from the television that is on in the corner of the room. A hero in red, yellow and blue is lifting up a sinking ship somewhere in the North Atlantic, saving hundreds of people in the process. Annie closes her eyes for a second and takes a deep breath. For her, there are no such things as heroes.

Chapter 1

Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance walked arm in arm as they left the concert. She had a slight smirk on her face as she continued to listen to his grumblings.

"Oh come on, Ollie, it wasn't that bad."

"If anyone ever finds out that you dragged me to a Barry Manilow concert, I will never live it down. When you said let's get away for a few hours of fun, this is not what I thought you had in mind."

"Oh I know what you thought, but a woman can't live on that alone…no matter how fulfilling it is."

Ollie's eyebrow arched and he gave her a lopsided grin, "Well now, I think that comment was worth the pain of the last two hours. I may even be able to look past the fact that you're a fan of that guy."

Dinah laughed mischievously, "Are you kidding! I really can't stand the guy. I just wanted to see if you'd actually go with me." She started laughing as she saw his shocked expression and then she heard a young man's voice over her laughter:

"Oliver Queen goes to see Barry Manilow, film at eleven. Boy, I let you get out of my sight for a little while and look what happens to you."

The couple stopped short as they stared at the young man named Roy Harper, leaning against Ollie's car, arms crossed and a huge grin on his face.

"How many times have I told you not to lean on the car," the bowman growled before his face broke out into a grin and he clasped Roy's hand and finally pulled him into a warm bear hug.

"Dinah, I would like to introduce you to my ward, Roy Harper."

She shook the young man's hand, "Oh yes, I've heard about you," she said with a mischievous grin.

"Don't believe everything the old man tells you," Roy replied as his eyes casually scanned the woman in front of him with an appreciative smile.

"Actually it was Barbara Gordon that filled me in about you."

The smile dropped from Roy's face and he cleared his throat. Ollie let him hang there for a second, enjoying the kid's loss for words, before laughing out loud and slapping him on the back.

"So what brings you all the way out to our part of the world?"

His face darkened, "I need your help, Ollie. Last week a, um, woman from my past named Casey Evans came to me for help. It seems that her younger sister ran away from her foster home and started living on the streets. Her name is Annie, she's fourteen years old and Casey said that she had contacted her a couple of times, but then just disappeared. I've tracked her to Vegas, but she seems to have just vanished after she got here. I figured since this is your city now, you might be able to help me pick up the trail… and Ollie, she's a user."

"Let's head back to the penthouse and maybe Barbara can help us," Oliver replied quickly. "We'll find her, I promise."

As Roy followed their car back, Dinah studied her lover's face. It was drawn tight and seemed even more focused then usual. In fact his entire demeanor had changed since Roy had shown up. There was something more going on. Something unsaid that had passed between the two men.

Ollie looked over at her and caught her studying him. "What is it?" he asked her.

"While you and Roy check with Barbara, I'll talk to Huntress about areas in this town to scope out, where we could talk to other runaways. Maybe somebody has seen her recently. To bad Adrian was called to Metropolis, he might have been able to help, too. Ollie, what's going on? Your entire demeanor has changed since Roy filled you in on this.."

For a while Ollie said not a word, to the point that Dinah wondered if he had even heard her.. When he did speak it came from a place of pain, that much was obvious to her.

"I owe Roy. If he says he needs my help, then he's got it."

There was a silence in the car as the neon lights flashed past them and then Dinah said with a tone of finality in it, "…and mine as well."

Interlude

Annie hurt in places that no fourteen-year-old girl should, but the pain would soon go away as the needle punctured the skin of her arm and within minutes the warmth of the drug rushed through her body. She fell into its warm embrace and once again everything was right with the world, at least for a small amount of time.

They had told her before they had left the room that she was expected to perform again in a few hours, and warned her not to take too much of the stuff. The problem, she was realizing, was that the escape the heroin gave her was not lasting as long as it used to. She needed more to keep her head on straight. She needed more so that she could forget where she was and dream of the life that should have been hers and her sisters. It was a life that at fourteen she knew she would never have.. Yes, at fourteen she had become wiser then her years and she saw the road that lay ahead of her…she would have cried, but she was too numb..

Chapter 2

Ollie, Dinah and Roy had changed their clothes and were now walking in some of the darkest and seediest parts of town. Their stomachs turned as they saw children of all ages walking the streets. Some had a look of fear on their faces, but most had been around long enough that there was nothing in their eyes. A dark void had covered their eyes, where life once danced.

As Dinah went to question a teenage girl, Ollie turned to Roy and studied him for a moment.. "You okay?"

Roy shrugged, "Sure, a lot of memories."

"Stop it! Get your hands off of me," a voice screamed from around the corner.

The three of them took off running and as they rounded the corner they saw two men of Asian decent dragging a boy of about eleven toward a parked car. He was desperately kicking out at them but they were too big and strong for him.

"The kid said to leave him alone," Ollie shouted as he strode toward them, his hands balled up into fists, a wild look on his face..

The men looked up and saw him coming toward them with the other two right behind. They dropped the kid and went to pull out their weapons when the kid kicked them both in the shins and took off running.

That was all the time Ollie needed to get to them. He kicked one out of the way and grabbed the other one by the shirt, throwing him against the car. The man swung wildly at him and Oliver easily dodged it; coming back with his own right cross that knocked the guys head back into the car. He fell to the ground unconscious.

"Roy, stop!"

Ollie turned at the sound of Dinah's voice and saw Roy beating the second man who was already on the ground unconscious, Dinah was desperately trying to pull him off the bloodied man.

He grabbed Roy's arm in mid-swing and pulled his ward to him, "Enough," he whispered to him and, just like that, all the energy and rage, that seemed to have consumed the young Titan, left him. He staggered back and looked at what he had done.

After an awkward moment, Ollie directed Roy to wake up the other thug while he and Dinah spoke with the young boy who was watching the three of them warily.

Dinah approached the young man with a warm smile, "Are you alright?" she asked him.

The boy gave her a hard look and nodded his head, "Course I am."

"Listen," Ollie said pulling out a picture of Annie, "We need your help. We're looking for a young girl, maybe about your age. You seen her?"

The boy studied the picture for a moment then handed it back to him. "Maybe.. To be honest I haven't eaten in a couple of days so I'm not really thinking straight, you know. Maybe a few bucks for food would help jog my memory."

Dinah went to reach in her belt but Ollie stopped her hand and shook his head at the kid. "No deal. If you're hungry I can get you food and some shelter for the night, if you need it, but no money. We're not stupid, kid."

The boy studied the archer for a moment and shrugged again, "Okay, sure, I've seen her. She was hanging out here for a while. Then those two guys grabbed her and took her away; haven't seen her since.."

Ollie flipped a card between his fingers and handed it to the boy. "Go to this address and tell them Arrow sent you. They'll make sure you get everything you need."

The couple watched the boy walk away, his head bowed and shoulders slumped forward as if he carried the weight of the world on them.

"Do you think he'll go?" Dinah asked.

"Don't know, but I sure as hell hope so."

They turned their attention to Roy who had woken the thug and was threatening him in every imaginable way to reveal who he was working for. The man was not buying any of it and although he was obviously scared, he wasn't scared enough..

"Oh for Pete's sake," Dinah said as she pushed Roy out of the way and shoved the man back into the car. "I have never understood why you men never go for the obvious."

Holding the thug down with her left arm she brought her right hand down and grabbed the man's crotch, squeezing it hard. The man let out a howl, Ollie and Roy flinched and turned their heads. She released him for a second and then squeezed again, harder. The man let out another howl that caused a dog down the street to return with one of his own.

"Who do you work for, dirtbag?" she demanded, not letting up on her grip.

The man was gasping for breath but was able to shout out, "Jong Lee, Christ lady!"

Dinah let go and the man dropped to his knees. She turned around to see the two men staring at her with their mouths open, their faces pale.

"What?"

"Dude, I'm glad she's _your_ girlfriend."

Ollie tipped his hat as Dinah grinned sheepishly at him, "I'm just glad she's on our side."

Chapter 3

"I can't believe we're going back there," Roy said as he finished putting on his outfit, catching himself as the private jet hit a pocket of turbulence.

"It was bound to happen," Green Arrow replied.. "Okay, Babs hit pay dirt on this guy. He's known to be a very wealthy man but nobody is quite sure just how he's acquired his fortune. I think we all have an idea, and if we're right, we're bringing this guy down hard. He's got an estate just outside of the Star City limits and a private yacht anchored on a private dock. Barbara was also able to tap into their security cameras and she said there are armed guards patrolling the boat. I think that's where we go first."

"You think he's selling them?" Dinah asked.

"No," Ollie replied shortly. "Buckle up, we're making our approach."

Within half an hour they had landed and were taking Oliver's private car to the location of the yacht. Both men were unusually quiet, Dinah noted, making only small comments as they noted changes that had been made in the city they had both called home for so long.

Eventually they made their way to the private dock and Black Canary easily disabled the security fence, all of them hopping over it and keeping to the shadows. They noted three guards in suits patrolling on the deck of the ship.

Green Arrow pulled an arrow out of his quiver. "We do this as quietly as we can. You ready, Speedy?"

"Just give the word, old man," he replied grim-faced, arrow nocked.

Ollie nodded and they fired their bolts. Two of the guards were hit by stun arrows and fell immediately. The other one had just enough time to turn toward them when he was hit by a third arrow, and fell onto the deck.

"Show-off," Ollie mumbled as they moved quickly up the ramp and onto the deck of the boat. They could hear movement from inside the cabin and the three quickly moved toward the door. Giving each other a look of understanding, the two men moved back to let Black Canary have her turn.

Without a word she kicked the door in and swung down into the room. There was a scream from a man as he instinctively swung at her with a tripod. She easily dodged it and hit him hard in the stomach with her foot. He flew back and she spun her body around, kicking him in the head and knocking him out.

The archers had come down behind her and what they had a chance to see sickened them to their very core. Five children, all in various forms of undress, were lying on a bed in a tangle of arms and legs. All of them appeared to be between the ages of ten and twelve, and all of them were thin, pale, and scared.

One last man had pulled out his gun, but a blunt arrow to the wrist knocked it out. He threw a punch at Speedy who blocked it and hit him in the jaw. The man took it and gave back as good as he got. Speedy let out a cry of rage and smashed his fist straight into the man's face. The man fell and Speedy was instantly on top of him.

"Where's the girl named Annie?" he screamed at the guy and pulled out the picture so that the man could see it. The thug shook his head but Speedy took the picture and shoved it in his face, rubbing it against the guy's broken nose. He screamed in pain.

Canary took a step forward to stop the escalating violence, but Green Arrow held her arm and shook his head.

She looked at him in shock, "Ollie?"

Green Arrow took another look at the kids that were now huddled in a corner of the bed, terrified.. "Let him go."

"…but Ollie…" she started.

"Let him go!" he exploded and turned to the other man who was just barely conscious. He grabbed the man by the collar and brought him up to his face. "You've got one minute to get your men off this boat. If you try to go any farther then the end of the dock, I'll hunt you all down and break every Goddamn bone in your body…you got me?"

The man nodded and as Arrow turned back he saw Dinah putting anything she could find around the kids who couldn't, or didn't, have any clothes. "Get them out of here, Canary," he barked. "Get them as far away from here as possible."

The other man was crying and begging Roy to stop, promising to tell him anything he knew. The information turned out to be about a cheap hotel that was also owned by Jong Lee, which was sometimes used to film, but was also the place where the kids were stashed away.

"Get him out of here," Ollie growled to his ward.

Speedy snarled at the man and head-butted him, causing him to lose consciousness. Then he threw him over his shoulder and carried him off the boat and down to the end of the dock, where Canary was waiting with the children.

"Where's Green Arrow?"

Roy grunted and threw the man down unceremoniously. He jabbed his thumb behind him and they looked to see Green Arrow walking away from the yacht. When he was just out off harm's way, the boat went up in a huge explosion. Dinah could see Oliver's face from the light of the flames and it was a look she had never seen before…it unsettled her.

"I've got a call in to the police and they're coming for the kids and the guards. We're splitting up. Roy is heading over to the hotel to get the kids, and you and I are going to go get Jong Lee."

Chapter 4

The man called Jong Lee put down his phone and walked onto his balcony overlooking his palatial estate. He was a man who was used to having things run smoothly and this phone call was unnerving to say the least.

"I bet you sleep like a baby, don't you?" the female voice asked from the door frame of his bedroom.

He turned slowly to find himself staring at a blonde woman with fishnet stockings and a form-fitting costume.

"You are the one they call Black Canary. Can I assume that you are also the one who blew up my yacht this evening?"

Dinah didn't move but the look of disgust was evident, "You just don't care, do you, you bastard. They're kids! Innocent little kids! You know, I've been so wrapped up in supervillains and mob bosses that I almost forgot what kind of scum can fly below the radar. Well, we're here to take care of that."

"We?"

"Yeah, we," Green Arrow said as he flipped himself up over the balcony and landed spryly on his feet. "By the way, I'd ask for a refund on your security and your men - they suck."

Jong Lee stepped away from the balcony and into the bedroom. "Ah, Star City's wayward hero has returned. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"Just wanted to let you know that the authorities are one their way. We're putting you away for a long time, you filthy piece of shit.."

Jong Lee laughed, "For what? You have nothing you can pin on me. The only evidence that you had was blown up with my yacht. Your own anger was your undoing, Mr. Arrow. How truly sad for you."

"You see, that's where you're wrong," Ollie replied. "We also know about the motel, and we have a friend who has been working her butt off to come up with just enough of a paper trail to link you to that slimy little establishment, and my guess is that when our associate gets there, he's going to find enough of your garbage to put you away for a long time."

For the first time, Jong Lee was visibly shaken. He went to speak but, before he could, there was a huge blur of movement and Black Canary was struck in the back and thrown into the room. A costumed figure in green, with large black stripes along the outside of the costume and a hood that covered his face, walked forward. His headpiece, like the rest of his suit, was metal; the face formed into a grin that bore large, sharp teeth.

"Ahh, my employee has finally arrived. Please, allow me to introduce my private bodyguard. His name is Skorpio. Kill them, and remove them from my property – in that order."

Green Arrow was already on the move and fired a stun arrow that hit Skorpio full in the jaw and clanged off the metal helmet, falling to the floor. Skorpio returned the favor and, from his armored body, three blades came flying out toward the archer. Green Arrow dove to the ground as they flew by his head; rolling onto one knee and moving his hand swiftly to his quiver to grab his next arrow. He fired it, and it hit its target. Skorpio let out a scream as volts of electricity were released into his armor.

"Seems a little green to me," Ollie said as he fired another arrow that stuck in the door frame just inches from Jong Lee's head. The master of the house had been trying to get away in the battle, but stopped short as felt the breeze of the arrow, the thud of the impact ringing in his ear.

To Green Arrow's amazement though, Skorpio pulled the arrow out of his armor and snapped it in half. "Sorry pal, this armor was designed to withstand that kind of voltage. Now, let me show you my poisonous nails and give you the real effect of why they call me Skorpio."

"Arrow!" was all Canary had to scream and he knew what was coming. He dove beside the bed and covered his ears as Dinah let out her sonic scream. Skorpio fell back and knocked himself into Jong Lee, who was staggered to his knees by the sound.

No sooner had the sound dissipated than Skorpio began to rise again. Jong Lee lay there stunned..

"Wait," Black Canary said, standing next to Ollie.. "Do you even know what your employer does? Do you know that he uses children to make disgusting films? That he has kept them locked up on his boat and in a run-down motel, using their fears and their addictions as his weapons?"

Skorpio hesitated, "You're lying."

"No, we're not. Your boss is nothing more then a child pornographer. Why would we lie about this?"

Jong Lee had been slowly crawling toward the door, but with a metallic growl, Skorpio swung around and he grabbed Lee by the collar, picking him up off the floor.

"I told you when you hired me that I don't get involved with anything that has to do with kids. You lied to me, you son of a bitch. You used me for your perverted machinations, ant that I will not allow. I'll kill you myself."

"Wait," Green Arrow yelled, taking a step forward, but it was too late. Skorpio had already shoved his needle-like fingers into the man. He then threw the body at the two heroes who were knocked over.. Ollie came up nocking an arrow onto his bow, but it was too late - Skorpio was gone.

Ollie turned back to Lee who was lying on the floor, already convulsing, bile rising up and out of his open mouth. He stared at the two of them with hate in his eyes, and then turned his attention fully on Green Arrow.

"You've signed your own death warrant," he croaked at the emerald archer. "This isn't your city anymore." He coughed roughly, hacking up blood that poured out of his mouth and down his chin. "It belongs to him…I belonged to him…you're a dead ma…"

Jong Lee gave one last shudder and then his head rolled to the side, his eyes going blank..

"Daddy?" came a tiny voice from the doorway.

They looked up to see a four-year-old girl in her nightgown, clutching a Blue's Clues stuffed animal. She shrieked at the sight before her.

Chapter 5

Speedy had already taken out a dozen men as he barreled his way down the hall of the dilapidated motel. He broke down door after door, discovering children of all ages - most of them strung out on some kind of drug, all of them naked and filthy.

His rage had become a full fury as he got to the end of the hall. He had abandoned his bow and plowed through the men with only his bare fists. As he kicked down the final door on the first floor, a man was ready for him and fired his gun. Roy was already leaping toward him and barely felt the sting as the bullet nicked his side. He threw a right punch that knocked the man back into a small table. The second punch put him down and out.

He turned to the bed, expecting to see more children, but found only one. The body of Annie lay on the bed. Her eyes wide open and staring up to the ceiling, the needle barely hanging from the skin of her right arm. He went to her and found that there was no pulse.

"Shit," he mumbled to himself as he gently picked up her partially naked body and cradled it in his arms. "I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry."

Tears began to stream down his face and he saw what was left of the heroin lying there on the corner of the nightstand; one more fresh needle just waiting to be used. It was minutes before his eyes even left the spot, but over half an hour before he moved from the child's lifeless body.

"Why do I even try," he mumbled to himself as he dialed the police, his fingers playing absently with the unused needle…

Annie Evans' body lay in the arms of a broken hero, but her spirit watched over him. If only she had not overdosed. If she had just held out for a little longer she would have realized that in everybody's life, a hero comes along. But she was at peace, and didn't that count for something?

Chapter 6

Four-thirty A.M. and the moonlight streamed into the penthouse bedroom that was shared by Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance. The two lovers finished their embrace and collapsed back onto the bed. Almost immediately Ollie jumped up and went into the bathroom.

His pretty bird watched him closely, her smooth white skin nearly glowing in the moonlight.. When he came out, he crawled back into bed and lay there quietly.

"What happened tonight?" she asked him after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?"

"This whole thing with Roy. I've never seen you so driven before. You were letting him get away with things that you'd never let any of the Outsiders do. My God, Ollie, you blew up private property that could have been used as evidence."

"I'm really tired, Dinah. This isn't a good time…"

"Too bad, mister. You scared me today and I deserve to know why. Is this something I'm going to have to worry about every time we go out on a case now? Oliver Queen, you answer me, dammit!"

"Leave it alone."

"I can't, and you know it. Ollie. You were half-crazed out there tonight. If I hadn't known any better I would have thought you were Chase."

Ollie flung himself out of bed and swung around to face her, "I am _nothing_ like him," he shouted at her, spittle flying from his lips.. "Don't you ever compare me with that wacko.."

He began to swear under his breath as he paced back and forth. "You want to know what went down today? Fine, I was trying to make up for a mistake I made years ago, and I was doing it the best way I knew how. You saw those kids, Dinah, and you saw what they were going through. Most of them were strung out on all kinds of shit, and I've seen it before; very close to me, actually.."

He sat down on the end of the bed, his back to her. "Roy doesn't like a lot of people to know this, but there was a time when he was an addict…heroin. It was bad, real bad, and I never even noticed.. I was too busy playing Robin Hood and making sure that the poor and the defenseless had someone fighting for them. Good old Ollie the bleeding heart liberal, vowing to save everyone from the big bad evils of the world. You know what I did when I found out…I threw him out. I told him that he disgusted me and that he was weak for getting hooked on the stuff. Roy's as close to me as any son could ever be and I failed him when he needed me the most. I've done some real lousy things in my life, Dinah, but nothing as bad as that. So when he came to me today, I knew that this was my chance to somehow make it up to him in some small way. Yeah, I probably became obsessed, but all that shame and pain came flooding back and I just needed to get rid of it."

Dinah crawled across the bed and came up behind him. She wrapped her arms around him and he leaned his head into her bosom. He had begun to cry softly and she was at a loss for words.. She did the only thing she could do at the moment; she held him as tightly as she could and stayed with him. And as the sun rose onto another day, a new chapter opened in the relationship of Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance.


End file.
